Here's a snippet from our local news station here in Hicksville, West Michigan.
"(Ottawa County, November 9th, 2000, 6:45 p.m.) Michigan has five different ballot systems, from optical scan to punch cards to "automated voting machines", even paper ballots and touch-screen computers in some precincts. Since 1992, all Ottawa County voting precincts have had the same optical scan voting system. Ottawa County Clerk Dan Krueger says it's a fast system that helps eliminate confusion. "If you move from Hudsonville to Holland to Grand Haven, it's the same voting system." Krueger was part of an advisory committee that recommended a statewide voting system, but the system would have cost the state at least 35 million dollars. Proposed legislation would force all the clerks in a particular county to agree on the same voting system."
The "optical scan" is what I used. You have a "broken arrow" right next to the candidate name that you connect with a felt-tip pen. The only hard part (that I mentioned elsewhere) was making sure the columns did not continue to the next column (which could end up voting for more than the allowed number of candidates).
I also found this story here:
"Publius.org is election information presented in the most easily recognizable format, the ballot you will most likely see at the polls. It's not just the big elections, but the most comprehensive collection of local Michigan election information anywhere.
Because of the massive amount of information gathered for this feature, a few races or issues may be missing. Please remember, this is not your "official ballot."
The Publius Foundation is a non-partisan, non-profit organization established in 1996 to investigate the effect of advances in information technology on democracy. At the heart of the Publius Foundation, is the belief that informed voter participation in national, state and local elections strengthens our government and is the basis of American democracy.
The centerpiece of Publius.org is the "My Ballot" generator, a revolutionary way to access your ballot before you go to the polls to vote. It generates you local ballot and connects to a central database of campaign websites. Voters who are looking online for information on upcoming elections do not have to hunt for candidate websites, ballot proposals or the issues that pertain to their voting district and precinct.
In 1996, Detroit native, Vincent M. Keenan, came up with the idea after a late-night conversation at the University of Michigan. When he told the idea to his close friend and fellow University of Detroit Jesuit High classmate, Russell Inman, the Publius Foundation was born. The two created the first version of the Publius for major elections in Michigan, Washington D.C. and the city of Ann Arbor.
In 1998 Publius.org gained momentum while forming a relationship with the Michigan chapter of the League of Women Voters, the Michigan Bureau of Elections, and WDIV in Detroit. The roll out of Publius in 1998 was a successful proof-of-concept that gained national attention and quietly recognized Keenan as a vanguard by those involved with the fledgling e-democracy movement.
This year, Publius.org redefines the 2000 "My Ballot" generator with cutting edge technology and more local coverage than ever. WDIV has again teemed up with Publius.org to provide its viewers with the most comprehensive election information available. A new relationship with Grand Rapids' premier television station, WOOD TV8, will expand the scope of the online voter resource to West Michigan.
Publius takes its name from the pseudonym used by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay collectively when they wrote the Federalist Papers. The intent behind using a psuedonym was to allow the reader to focus on the thrust of the arguments, and not feelings about the authors. This sentiment is in keeping with Keenan's insistence on maintaining Publius' impartiality by relying on primary-source campaign information from the candidates.
Vincent M. Keenan is CTO and Russell Inman is the President/CEO of Cobalt, the web application and database development company based in Detroit and Washington D.C. that hosts and maintains Publius.org. The 2000 "My Ballot" generator development team was lead by Jacob Lipman and John Jordan."
This link resulst in a printable ballot that looks almost exactly like the ballot I used. The arrows that you connect are right next to the candidates name. (I believe you have to live in Michigan for this to work, any other Michiganians want to give it a try?).
Also I found a copy of rules for using the optical tabulator..it's at this website but be aware that it's pdf format (interactive on my screen):
http://www.sos.state.mi.us/election/elecadmin/2000web/optech.pdf I would cut and past but I don't know how...anyway, the rules discuss what is explained to the voter if the ballot cast is defective, unreadable, or spoiled (duplicate, multiple votes, ect)...it's on page 3 and 4 of the pdf doc. I was in the building when there was a read error, the voter was told about it and asked if he wanted to vote again (he didn't).
The idea of a single format ballot is pretty good...but each ballot contains state and local information, so the only one that would be the same across the country is the Presidential one.
Did anyone else use the optical scan system with felt pens? I thought it was pretty simple. I can't seem to find a sample ballot.
Fury
